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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tsunami Victim Article Translation

Note: This was originally taken from the famous South Korean Newspaper 조선일보 (Joseon Ilbo), and I have included the link above (all rights reserved to them). I wanted to share this with everyone because I found the story of Oshihara Eriko-San as told in this article to be really moving. We all really need to open our hearts to the people in Japan who are still suffering the effects of the tsunami and its continuing aftershocks. Just because it happened awhile ago, does not mean that the victim's struggles are over. I have a lot of friends in Japan and have heard about how devastated the affected area was and seen pictures of the ruins. I hope you can take the time to look at this article and think about how lucky we all are to be alive and say a prayer for all those stills suffering....

"반지, 천국에서보낸거죠?" 아내를울린마지막선물

"Ring, did you get sent from heaven?" The last gift that made his wife cry

On the 18th at the Miyagi Gesennuma mortuary, Oshihara Eriko wiped her husband’s mud-stained cheeks. She kissed him then whispered in his ear "I love you". Her husband's cheek, lips, and ear were as cold as ice.

On the 20th the report of Oshihara's story in the Yomiuri Newspaper follows the Oshihara family's lives in one of the biggest earthquake and tsunami to hit the area. On the 11th the earthquake shook the house and flooding entered, hearing the news Oshihara brought her two daughters Rio(2) and Ria (5 months) to the shelter holding them as she got in the car. Just before she was about to get in, she got a call from her husband who was working as a driver at a shipping company. "Are you okay? I don't know if we can get into contact from now on" he said. But, she could not respond properly to the call and the phone hung up. With two crying children in her arms, she was not able to speak her mind. That was her last phone call with her husband.

Oshihara decided to evacuate to a nearby elementary school. Only 20 minutes into her departure, the road was filled with vehicles evacuating. When the cars showed no signs of movement, Oshihara switched onto the accelerator and turned the car so it went into the opposite lane. The two cars ahead of her were swept away by the tsunami. At the same time, she barely avoided the water bomb and massive wave by her desperate efforts to drive backwards about 50 meters. She gave her two daughters sitting in the passenger’s seat and back seat a hug. That night, they spent together in the car without the heat on in order to conserve gas.

The next day they changed their destination to a shelter more distant from the seashore. Because she lacked materials, Ohara and her two daughters began their uphill shelter life. The most troubling of the matter was 5 month old Ria. In the confusion of the earthquake and their evacuation, all of her bottles broke. Because of stress, She was also not able to breastfeed her. She mixed a sports drink with boiling water but Ria only shook her head and cried. There was never any time to change her diaper so she got scabs on her bottom, and they went on to bleed.

On the 17th around the vicinity of the Gesennuma area, she received news from the head of the delivery company that her husband had died while being washed away by the tsunami, but the news did not sink in. The next night, making sure her children were asleep in the shelter, Oshihara then went too the morgue. Naked man lying in the coffin, Oshihara confirmed it was her husband, then as if it was a lie tears welled up. She then returned home in order to get her husband some clean clothing. The house had not been broken by the tsunami.

It wasn’t until she returned home that she at last saw her husband's suitcase that the company had returned to her. Inside there was a woman's ring. The time came back to her when she had said to her husband, "Sometimes I also want to have something like a ring. But you don't look like a present giving type of man". Ahead of White Day (14th) her husband had prepared a last present. She could only cry clutching the ring.

Oshihara and her two daughters are still living together in the shelter. How many more alone in that place is unknown. But the challenge of going through this by herself in the future was clear. They did not have diapers, so the kid's dirty clothing was just left to dry in the wind. Oshihara, tugging at the ring in her pocket sometimes, said "I will make sure these children grow".